This Week in Cricket #185: Australia's rollercoaster, Black Caps depth & do too many teams play Test cricket?

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy, Raj and Stu discuss a range of topics from the cricketing news cycle, including: white-ball series between Australia and South Africa, NZ A tour to South Africa, England also scheduled to play the Proteas and the recent comments from Todd Greenberg about the future of Test cricket. We start the show by talking about Australia's mixed performances against South Africa and what both sides can take from a series missing a few star players. There's praise for Tim David and Dewalt Brevis, question marks over the Aussie bowling bench, while Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green all score hundred on the night of recording. The conversation moves on to the NZ A tour to South Africa, which features a number of players who have already made their debut for the Black Caps. We're excited to see how young players like Muhammad Abbas, Rhys Mariu & Bevon Jacobs perform, as well as the chance it provides Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay, Ben Lister and many others to continue pushing for more opportunities at the top level. Next it is off to England to discuss Jacob Bethell's selection as T20 captain against Ireland, before a brief introduction to Sonny Baker. Then we round out the show with our reaction to comments by Cricket Australia Chief Todd Greenberg about the future of Test cricket and the ICC working group that could shape what unfolds. We'll most likely be back in your feed again next week to discuss more stories from the world of cricket. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 1:25 Australia v South Africa series - have we learned anything? 21:05 NZ A tour to South Africa - Black Caps bench strength 32:15 English summer update - Bethell and Baker 43:25 Is quality more important than quantity for Test cricket? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices